Watts, "A Teenager’s View on Social Media"
This stub is being originated by Michael Tan. Abstract In this article, a nineteen year of teenager gives his own views and opinions on various social media outlets that are prevalent today. The social media outlets he talks about are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Tumblr, Yik Yak, and Medium. Key Concepts Facebook With Facebook, the author feels as though it is something that was useful in a much earlier time in life but as a teenager there is no use for besides the group feature and messaging. The author also talks about how Facebook can be used as an indicator of how much a person conforms to society. It has reached the point in where if you don't have Facebook, then you are looked to be "weird and annoying...Everyone has Facebook, why don't you?" It seems as though Facebook is meant for the younger generation than teenagers. He brings up a good point of how it was cool in middle school as it is during those younger years in which you are not picky when it comes to who's attention you are getting. During the middle school and early high school years, new people are met when grade schools/ middle schools combine into one and therefore there are a lot of new people to meet. Facebook is a platform for these people to get to know one another and interact with each other at a surface level without putting in much effort. Instagram The author believes Instagram to be the most used social media outlet as provides many of the same features of Facebook but without the negatives. The features between the two are so similar the Instagram can be seen as a more private and more personal Facebook. On Instagram it seems as though the social etiquette are vastly different than Facebook which contribute to the entire idea that Instagram is a more specific Facebook. In this age of technology where it is so easy to interact with others, it can reach an overwhelming point in where one could think there is no real privacy. These people are commonly teenagers as it is during this age in where they feel as though no one really understands them. Instagram is perfect for these people as it allows to be open and participate in the world of social media but at the same time remaining true to themselves and private, only allowing certain people they approve to see their content. Twitter Twitter is a iffy subject since it is not really a norm for teenagers. It seems as though there is always that one person in a group in which that person uses it but just from that example, the use of Twitter in the teenager years is already thought to be weird. This references the earlier point in how teenagers are looking for privacy. Twitter's platform is mainly for the voice of people compared to the visual side of Instagram. However, it is much easier to post pictures than the make statements on Twitter which can contribute to the lack of teenager use. Teenagers do have things to say but they have not reached the point in where they are willing to make a stand for which Twitter is for. Snapchat Snapchat is on its way to becoming the most used social media network. Snapchat is the one most personal of the networks that have been discussed as it serves as a way to communicate with others through pictures and more commonly selfies. There is already a negative stigma about seflies but Snapchat makes it alright as it removes social pressure which every other social media network out there has. "Snapchat...really focuses on creating the Story of a day in your life, not some filtered/ altered/ handpicked highlight. It's the real you". Snapchat is all personal and so it is becoming more popular as it serves as a way to keep up relationships at a somewhat personal level and at the same serve as a opportunity to create new relationships. These two functions are what human beings in general are looking for and Snapchat does just the thing. Tumblr "Tumblr is like a secret society that everyone is in, but no one talks about. Tumblr is where you are your true self and surround yourself with people who have similar interests." In this age of technology people are capable to connect with others of similar interest all around the world, teenagers benefit the most especially. During this time, they are experimenting with they truly like and not what society deems to be socially acceptable. However, some of their interest may go against the standard and so these teenagers need a medium to be themselves. Tumblr provides this. There they can truly be whoever they want but with nothing attached to their own real life selves. Yik Yak Yik Yak is one of the newer platforms and it is most prominent with college students. It is anonymous which gives people the freedom to say whatever they want however they want. Nothing is attached in this case and it is purely for entertainment. This is more catered for teenagers in their later years in where they begin to care about only certain people instead of trying to pertain to the masses. This gives them the anonymous but at the same time the freedom to express themselves. Medium Medium is one the newer platforms in where blog writing is brought back. Medium is not very apparent to the teenagers yet since is competing against other networks. Medium is somewhat of a mix of all the networks but with all the negatives and not many of the positives. It doesn't offer the functions needed for teenagers to express themselves, remain private, and showcase themselves and so it is not really used. Examples These ideas are very apparent in the real world. There are multiple times in where each of these platforms are used not only for teenagers. Children are already getting phones at such a young age and so they are beginning to hop on these social networks. The same case can be said for the older generation. As people are learning more and more about technology, the masses of people using them keep increasing. For example, adults are beginning to use Snapchat in a way to showcase their lives as they have more freedom and less restrictions than teenagers. Kylie Jenner and Social Media Similar to how Andrew Watts wrote that the most widely used social media amongst teens was probably Instagram, celebrity and social media mogul Kylie Jenner, the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner sisters admitted in an interview that if she had the choice to choose between Instagram and Twitter, she would without a doubt keep her Instagram. As she is still only 18, she shows that even amongst celebrity teenagers, the preferred method of social media is Instagram. Resources and Further Reading Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media." Business horizons 53.1 (2010): 59-68. In this book, various other social media outlets that are not discussed in this article are analyzed. The benefits and challenges are discussed as well as ways to best utilize social media. Kietzmann, Jan H., et al. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media." Business horizons 54.3 (2011): 241-251. In this book, the fundamental ideas of social media are talked about and how social media came to emergence. It gives history as well as the reasoning behind why social media is so big. Asur, Sitaram, and Bernardo Huberman. "Predicting the future with social media." Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT), 2010 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on. Vol. 1. IEEE, 2010. This article talks about where social media could eventually reach in the upcoming future as well as what benefits and goals social media can meet. Scott, Kellie. "'Instafamous' Teen Reveals Social Media's Ugly Truth." ABC News. ABC News, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015. In this article, a teen who is famous on Instagram has started to reveal the "truths" of social media. It discusses some of the concerns and complications social media and society brings to certain people. Shirky, Clay. "The Political Power of Social Media." ForeignAffairs. Foreign Affairs, Jan. 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2015. In this article, it talks about how much power social media can bring and the politics behind it. Keywords Social Media Facebook Instagram Twitter Snapchat Yik Yak Medium Citations Asur, Sitaram, and Bernardo Huberman. "Predicting the future with social media." Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology (WI-IAT), 2010 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on. Vol. 1. IEEE, 2010. Heller, Corinne. "Kylie Jenner Talks Social Media and Privacy—Find Out What the Instagram, Snapchat and Reality Star Said!" E! Entertainment Television. ''NBCUniversal, 24 July 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. Kaplan, Andreas M., and Michael Haenlein. "Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media." ''Business horizons 53.1 (2010): 59-68. Kietzmann, Jan H., et al. "Social media? Get serious! Understanding the functional building blocks of social media." Business horizons 54.3 (2011): 241-251. Shirky, Clay. "The Political Power of Social Media." ForeignAffairs. Foreign Affairs, Jan. 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2015. Scott, Kellie. "'Instafamous' Teen Reveals Social Media's Ugly Truth." ABC News. ABC News, 02 Nov. 2015. Web. 03 Nov. 2015. Category:Reading Category:Resources and Further Reading